The name Limeum is an ancient classical name for a poisonous plant and refers to some of the plants in this genus. It is derived from the Greek word loimos meaning ‘a plague or pestilence’. The species name aethiopicum is a Latin word meaning ‘African’, an indication that this plant is common and widespread in Africa.

The common name koggelmandervoetkaroo refers to the dark green leaves arranged in the shape of small hands like those of an agama lizard. The common name boesmandagga translates in English to ‘bushman's dagga’, and comes from several Karoo inhabitants who have reported that the plant was smoked by the southern San (! Xam) people who once inhabited the Great Karoo (Van Wyk  & Gericke 2017) .

Limeaceae is a small family of flowering plants belonging to the order Carophyllales and comprising of one genus, Limeum. The family Limeaceae has been recognized by modern classification systems such as the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group III system of 2009. Previously Limeum had been arranged in Molluginaceae and Aizoaceae.

Limeum is a particularly variable genus and species are not easy to identify. To distinguish Limeum species, subspecies and varieties minute differences in their ripe fruit is used. (Van Rooyen, Bezuidenhout & De Kock 2001).

The genus has 26 species of which 2 occur in the Klein Karoo and 4 occur in Namaqualand. 

An abundance of this species indicates well-managed veld. Other noteworthy members are Limeum fenestratum with its small white flowers and interesting winged fruit, Limeum telephoides with its trailing habit and Limeum viscosum subsp. viscosum which has small white flowers with bright yellow anthers. The latter two being annual herbs.